Inside-Out Investigating the Link Between Internal Marketing and Service Quality in Swedish Retail

Bachelor thesis

Inside-Out Investigating the link between internal marketing and service quality in Swedish retail.

Author: Ebba Svensson Supervisor: Christine Tidåsen Examiner: Miralem Helmefalk Term: VT20 Subject: Degree Project Level: Bachelor Course code: 2FE67E

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 2

Abstract 4

Keywords 5

Acknowledgments 5

1. Introduction 5 1.1 Background 5 1.2 Problem discussion 8 1.3 Purpose 12 1.4 Research questions 12 1.5 Delimitations 12

2. Literature review and conceptual framework 13 2.1 Internal marketing 13 2.1.1 Definitions 13 2.1.2 Implementing internal marketing 14 2.2 Employee satisfaction and frontline employees 15 2.2.1 Employee satisfaction 16 2.2.2 Employee branding 17 2.2.3 Frontline employees within retail 17 2.3 Service theory and service quality 18 2.3.1 Service theory 18 2.3.1.1 The service marketing triangle 18 2.3.1.2 Service-profit chain 19 2.3.1.3 Gap-model 20 2.3.2 Service quality 22 2.4 Conceptual framework 22

3. Methods 23 3.1 Deductive approach 23 3.2 Qualitative research method 24 3.2.1 Types of data 25 3.3 Research strategy 26 3.3.1 Semi-structured interviews 26 3.3.2 Operationalisation 27 3.3.3 Sampling 28 3.3.4 Implementation of the interviews 30 3.4 Method of data analysis 31 3.5 Quality of research 32 3.5.1 Saturation 32 3.5.2 Trustworthiness 32

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3.5.3 Ethical considerations 33 3.5.4 Sustainable considerations 34

4. Empirical findings and analysis 34 4.1 Companies and store managers 34 4.1.1 Mio AB 34 4.1.1.1 Magnus Khrinde, Kalmar 34 4.1.1.2 Åsa Jobratt, Karlskrona 34 4.1.2 Systembolaget AB 35 4.1.2.1 David Boistrup, Växjö 35 4.1.2.2 Johannes Ledel, Halmstad 35 4.1.3 Åhléns AB 35 4.1.3.1 Anja Smittsarve, Visby 36 4.1.3.2 Jenny Carlsson, Karlskrona 36 4.2 The role as store manager 36 4.3 Internal marketing 37 4.3.1 The perception of internal marketing 37 4.3.2 Communication and Information 39 4.3.2.1 Communication 39 4.3.2.2 Information 40 4.3.3 Training and hiring 42 4.4 Employee satisfaction 43 4.4.1 Motivation and feeling of importance 44 4.4.2 Employee branding 45 4.5 Service deliverance 46 4.6 Changes to the conceptual framework 48

5. Conclusion and recommendations 50 5.1 Conclusion 50 5.2 Contribution 52 5.2.1 Theoretical implications 52 5.2.2 Managerial implications 52 5.3 Suggestions for further research 53

References 53 Written sources 53 Oral sources 59

Appendices 60 Interview schedule 60 Appendix A - Original in Swedish 60 Appendix B - English translation 62

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Abstract

This thesis is a qualitative research that provides an understanding of store managers perception of internal marketing on the Swedish retail market. It also describes how the store managers use internal marketing to guide their frontline employees to deliver high quality service. This research aims to highlight the importance of service deliverance in the retail sector. Due to the changes that are taking place within retail where globalization, digitalisation and automation are changing customers' views on trade, it is becoming increasingly important to differentiate themselves. More and more physical stores are finding it difficult to survive and many are forced to shut down.

This study therefore wants to highlight the use of internal marketing to be able to deliver high quality service at the encounter between the frontline employees and the customer in physical stores. Therefore, the study will give answers to the following questions: (1) How do store managers on the Swedish retail market perceive internal marketing? (2) How are internal marketing used in physical stores to work with service quality deliverance? To answer these two questions a meticulous examination of previous studies on the concepts internal marketing, employee satisfaction and service quality was made. A conceptual framework for the study was set to classify and analyse the findings of the study. The empirical findings consis data collected through semi-structured interviews with six store managers of three different retail stores on the Swedish market.

It was concluded that the store managers perception of internal marketing is unclear but that they all believe it is important. Nevertheless, it can be seen that internal marketing is important and that the store managers work daily with activities to guide the frontline employees to deliver high quality service. However, these activities are not expressed as internal marketing among the companies and store managers. It was also concluded that the service quality delivered by the frontline employees was significant to the success of the stores in the store manager's point of view.

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Keywords

Employee satisfaction, Internal marketing, Retail market, Service quality, Store managers

Acknowledgments

The author would like to express her gratitude to the supervisor Christine Tidåsen for continuous guidance and assistance in the writing and research process. Furthermore, the store managers interviewed Anja Smittsarve, David Boistrup, Jenny Carlsson, Johannes Ledel, Magnus Khrinde and Åsa Jobratt. Thank you for taking the time to share your personal opinions and experiences and for decisive contributions to the empirical results. I would also like to thank those who opposed my work for, good and rewarding feedback that helped me improve my thesis.

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1. Introduction

1.1 Background

Globalization, digitalisation and automation are fundamentally changing the retail industry that is currently undergoing a structural transformation (HUI 2019). The prevailing view is that retail will change more in the next ten years than in the previous fifty. Under the year 2017 and 2018 the number of retail stores have decreased by six percent and there are some question marks about why stores are closing down (HUI 2019). These changes is not only affecting the stores but also the customers expectations of the industry and those who work within it. According to Handelsrådet (2010), service is one of the factors that is going to be crucial for a store's survival. This is also addressed by a several researchers that means that we are facing a paradigm shift where customer service will play an increasingly decisive role in the success of a retailer (Gummesson 2017; Grönroos 2015; Zeithaml, Bitner, Gremler & Wilson 2017).

Under the undergone shift in the retail industry recent years the online shopping has become increasingly greater part of the business. Large parts of the industry are now in an international competitive environment, which also led to great competition in terms of prices (Svensk handel 2018). As a result of this changes a report made by Svensk handel (2019) predict that the trend in the future may be that many retail companies will scale down their store areas and have fewer stores. The resources that are released through this can instead be used to have more employees in the store and their by utilize one of the physical retails advantages, the store employees who can give attention and advice and build and maintain relationships with the customer. The report also emphasizes that it is important to give customers a reason to go to the store and spend the extra time it takes to get to a physical store instead of going online.

This is not only important for maintaining the physical trade, however it can also be seen as the online store and the physical store can complement each other. Moreover, that the retail store is a part of the customer journey where the physical appearance also can work as a communication platform and not only a place where goods are exchanged for money (Ohlsson 2019). Research has shown that the physical store help increase online sales. Therefore, the physical store should be seen as an effective means of competition (Rigby 2011). Today there is a lot of companies that are willing to put in a large sum of resources in just one campaign to attract customers. Instead they are holding back on training and motivation for the employees and does not update the visual environment or have a strategy for how the customer's attention should be guided by the physical environment (Ohlsson 2019).

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Another more drastic change is currently ongoing that already has and will probably have a continues impact on the society. March 11, 2020, the WHO (World Health Organization) declared that the spread of covid-19 is considered a pandemic (Folkhälsomyndigheten a 2020), and is still going on at the time of writing. This pandemic outbreak has brought many different restrictions and have affected large sections of society and with it also the physical trade. There are now existing restrictions that all people must keep a distance from each other, whether they are indoors or outdoors and avoid places where people potentially gather, for example, retail stores and shopping centers. Retail is one of the sectors that has been affected fastest and hardest (Råman 2020).

It is difficult to determine the long-term consequences at present, but the short-term effects are less people in the stores and their by less sales and in some cases, stores are forced to close down and there is a general concern as a result of the pandemic (Råman 2020). Even before this pandemic broke out, there were physical stores that struggled to attract people and they are now facing even greater difficulties. Nevertheless, it is not only the stores themselves that are exposed, but also their employees (Faxén 2020). This means that could be of great importance, now more than ever, to focus on the strength of a physical store but also to take good care of their employees and keep up the motivation during these times.

Internal marketing is a concept that is often highlighted as a solution for the task to deliver high-quality service. Greene, Walls, and Schrest (1994) writers about internal marketing as the key to external marketing success. The authors further outline that being able to deliver qualitative service to the customer is considered a competitive advantage and that internal marketing is the key to deliver this customer service. A Swedish company that is successfully using internal marketing is IKEA and they believe that “every individual has something valuable to offer” (Dora 2018). IKEA view their internal marketing as a driver for corporate success and is used to encourage all individuals within the company to be innovative and successful and also for delivering strategic messages.

To continue, the advantages that retailers have and the digital world lacks is the possibility of the physical meeting between the frontline employee and the customer and that interaction can support the customer experience (Ohlsson 2019). Moreover, the employees have a responsibility to be the company's face outwardly and especially those in the frontline that potentially can give the customer a first impression of the company. The customers first meeting with the company's employees is the starting point for the relationship that in long term can make them into loyal customers (Grönroos 2015).

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This face-to-face interaction is a great opportunity that physical stores possesses, and also to be able to present the knowledge and value of the company (Grönroos 2015). The physical presence in a store can lead to that the customer feel more acknowledge and taken cared off. To continue this can lead to a more positive experience of the company when the employees represent the expected image of the company. When customers purchases either a products or services from a company they are always left with a experience, whether it is bad, good or different. There is an increasing awareness of the need to deliver value to the customers in the form of experience (Berry, Carbone & Haeckel 2002).

Customer experience is something that has become a large part of many companies main focus and the employees are the one thing every different customer experience has in common. Whether they are making the products or delivering the service, employees are the ones defining the customer experience (DesRochers 2018). Customer experience can be explained as the merger of everything a company offers, among them the quality of customer care and service features (Meyer & Schwager 2007). DesRochers (2018) goes on to explain the customer experience is what deliver and strengthen what is undertaken by the marketing and for making a great customer experience it comes back to the internal marketing.

A company that stands out when it comes to the ability of making customer experience is Disney World. In an article in Forbes, Blake Morgan (2020) writes about five things to learn from Disney’s way of making customer experience. One of them being the importance of involving every employee and that they have their focus on the customer. From the very first day as a new employee they get to learn that regardless which position they have, the primary goal is to create happiness. Nevertheless, to deliver a strong customer experience it starts with leadership and is achieved when all employees knows their role and impact (Morgan 2020).

However, if an organisation wants to deliver a total customer experience it is of great significance to recognize the signals that is being sent out to the customer. Moreover, that some of these signals is sent out by the employees in forms of behaviour, how they dress and how they speak, everything is signals to the customer saying something about the organisation they work for (Berry, Carbone & Haeckel 2002). Moreover, customer experience is something that is defined by employees’ assumptions and direct actions, and is crucial for the organisations if wanting to create long-term success (Ind 2003).

1.2 Problem discussion To begin with it is observed that it exists quite a large sum of research regarding internal marketing, service quality and the role of the frontline employees. These studies have been carried out both together and individually. However, for the most

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part it has been researched in relation to each other in the service industry and significantly less in other industries. Nor is it unusual for the studies to take a leadership perspective combined with the views of employees or customers. Which opens up the opportunities to look at these concepts from a more focused point of view, more specifically the view of store manager's.

Through the year’s different service strategies and theories has been created trying to find solutions to deliver high-quality service. The service market triangle (Grönroos 2015), service-profit chain (Heskett, Jones, Loveman, Sasser & Schlesinger 1994) and gap-model (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry 1985) are some examples. This tree service theory has mainly been developed and research in the context of service companies and is in different ways connecting managerial leadership and service quality. However, even for the companies that would not classically be regarded as a company within the service industry the service delivery is crucial (Bitner, Brown & Meuter 2000).

Trying to win back a dissatisfied customer lost to competitors is very expensive (Carlzon 1985). Therefore, the only thing that is profitable, according to Carlzon (1985), is to provide such good service that customer´s stay. A lot of studies indicate that employees have a crucial role in this delivery of service quality and that this deliverance can be encourage by the company trough strategies and guidelines (see, for instance Alzaydi, Al-Hajla, Nguyen & Jayawardhena 2018) Being able to deliver service quality is both complex and challenging and therefore there is reason for further studies in service quality in other industries as well.

There are many investigations about how companies should treat their employees so that they perform as well as possible in their tasks. The concept employee satisfaction is a central topic in these investigations. The satisfaction among a company's employees is a main driver of company value, because they constitute a key element of the company's human capital (Green, Huang, Wen & Zhou 2019). Furthermore, having satisfied employees benefits the company performance by having more, loyal, motivated and productive employees (Edmans 2012). At the contrary, a lower level of satisfaction among the employees can result in lower confidence in leadership and that the employees are less likely to recommend the workplace outwardly (Jing, Keasey, Lim & Xu 2019).

Employee branding is another concept connected to the task of having satisfied employees. This strategy is most commonly used in the service industry and are based on influencing the behaviour of the employees so that there behaviour are in line with how the company wants to be view (Biswas & Chaudhuri 2018). The attitude towards the employees has also been addressed to more specific employees,

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such as employees that stand in direct contact with the customers, the frontline employees.

To begin, these investigations that target the frontline employees, is more common in company's only selling service then in retail companies. Ishaque and Shahzad (2016) examined a service company with in telecommunication in UK and the importance of frontline employees and their important role to achieve competitive advantages to the company by providing excellent service to the customers. In addition to this, there have been several investigations in the service sector, both international and in the Swedish market with positive results. But this only shows these effects in the company's strictly selling service and can therefore not generally be applied to all industries. Since there are positive effects, there exist an aim to further investigate the frontline employees and their service performance in other industries. Especially in the Swedish retail market where there is few studies conducted specifically focused on frontline employees and service deliverance combined.

Good conditions are required for the employee to be able to deliver higher quality on the service. This type of conditions can be created by what Grönroos (2008) define as internal marketing, which aim to strengthen employee motivation and customer interest to ultimately improve the service that is delivered. Today the concept of internal marketing has been research material for about 40 years. Berry, Hensel and Burke (1976) were very early to propose internal marketing as a solution to the problem of delivering high service quality. In the earlier years the focus of the discussions has been on how it should be implemented and its outcomes (Rafiq & Ahmed 1993). As an empirical phenomenon internal marketing has been observed repeatedly. There have been several attempts over the years to look deeper into the implementation of internal marketing, especially in those industries that were in significant need of service quality as truism, retail and banking (Huang 2019).

It should be pointed out that it exist a great confusion in the literature what is meant by internal marketing, what is expected to be done, by whom and also for what reason (Rafiq & Ahmed, 2000). To continue, this has resulted in many different activities having been placed under the concept of internal marketing and it has made it difficult to implement and adapt the internal marketing in practice. According to Kaurav, Chowdhary, Prakash and Briggs (2016) it is possible to divide the different perspective of internal marketing in four different groups according to definitions. The first are those how view internal marketing as a synonym for human resources management, the second is viewing internal marketing as usage of marketing techniques in the internal marketplace. Further, the internal marketing for the purpose of satisfying external customers and internal marketing as a source of competitive advantages (Kaurav et al. 2016). The latter two are the perspective that best aligns with this study's view of internal marketing. Keller and Kotler (2015) belongs to the

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first of the two latter mentioned and argue that internal marketing must precede external marketing because it makes no sense to promise excellent service before the company’s employees is ready to provide it.

It is equally interesting to research into the concept of internal marketing as a solution for high quality service and internal marketing as a source of competitive advantages. To begin with, it is observed that previous research on these relationships internal marketing and service quality has primarily been done in service industries around the world. These investigations have undertaken the focus on how to improve service quality through internal marketing to increase their customer’s satisfaction (Brooks, Lings & Botschen 1999). For a larger part, internal marketing has been investigated in European service companies and a great deal of focus has been placed on finding these relationships from the view of managers and employees (Huang 2019). Banking has been of particular interest to many researchers (see, for instance Rod, Ashill & Gibbs 2016), but also other service-driven organizations such as hospitals (see, for instance Edo, Llorens-Monzonís, Moliner-Tena & Sánchez-García 2015).

Ahmed and Rafiq (2003), discuss the assumption that it is a greater chance of creating satisfied customers if one first make sure the employees are pleased by meeting their needs and motivating them to do the job as well as possible. The authors further discuss how companies should advert to their employees by working with the internal relations and that there exists a need for working with internal marketing to develop the company's opportunities. However, it is considered a further challenge to investigate the relationship between satisfaction and performance and how they are interrelated.

This is something that also is brought up by Huang (2019) how argue that it has been difficult to find sufficient evidence for the effects of internal marketing that is not only based on empirical analyses or studies. Additionally, studies have also been conducted in an attempt to prove the relationship between internal marketing and satisfaction in service context but with the same end result (Huang 2019). Ahmed and Rafiq (2003) does not present any concrete answer to their discussion regarding satisfaction and performance and believe that more research is needed to enable companies to gain a higher benefit from internal marketing.

A study that has been successfully demonstrated is that the implementation of internal marketing can increase satisfaction is a study conducted by Richardson and Robinson (1986). This study was conducted in ten banks in USA where the result was a positive change both in the perceived customer service and also the employee's perception and satisfaction with their work. According to Mitchell (2002) are most companies bad at using internal marketing and if used at all it is often poorly executed. The author underline the significance to enable the employees to deliver

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what is expected both of the company and of the customers and that it is up to the companies to give their employees a reason to exert themself.

Many researchers emphasize the relationship between employee satisfaction and service quality, but the question is whether there is an equal awareness of the relationships between these factors at a managerial level. When looking into the Swedish retail market and the research that has been conducted in the subject for the past ten years, there are fewer studies researched on internal marketing and its effects on frontline employees performance in a retail setting. Moreover, the existing studies focus on the actual practice of internal marketing and how it affects the organization itself (see, for instance Gustavsson, von Wendel & Widèn 2018) and less is done on its external effects as the deliverance of service quality.

This study will have its basis of the perception that if satisfying the frontline employees through internal marketing and make sure they understand their commitments, this will affect the quality of the service that is delivered to the customers. To continue, when narrowing it down to investigate these relationships in a Swedish retail setting, there might exist a need in highlighting the importance of service even if the service itself is not the primary product being sold. Therefore by examining how internal marketing is used by store managers in Swedish retails market it can contribute with highlighting the opportunities and benefits of having satisfied frontline employees that acts in unity with what the company wants to achieve. Additionally, the information that is represented in this paper can be found relevant to retail companies for understanding and reflect upon when meeting the changes that is happening with in the market.

1.3 Purpose

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the understanding in the use of internal marketing to guide frontline employees’ to deliver high quality service on the Swedish retail market.

1.4 Research questions

How do store managers on the Swedish retail market perceive internal marketing?

How are internal marketing used in physical stores to work with service quality deliverance?

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1.5 Delimitations The empirical research is limited to five retail stores in three retail companies located in the lower half of Sweden. The stores are located in the city of Halmstad, Kalmar, Karlskrona, Visby and Växjö. Therefore, the findings can not claim to show that this is how it appears in retail stores everywhere. Some of the participants that are interviewed is selected by convenience sampling do to the current virus pandemic, Covid-19, mentioned in the background. Many of the respondents could not participate because of the prevailing circumstances. This will be described in more detail in the method chapter.

To continue, this study will only be conducted from the store manager's point of view. Therefore, it will not include other parts of the company's annual prospects neither will the customer's experience of the actual service delivery be included. It should also be added that the definition of what is high service quality can be hard to determine. It can also mean different for different people and companies. Therefore, this study assumes that when writing or talking about high quality service, one must assume that the person or companies have their own picture of what the definition of high quality service is. In short, one must assume that the representatives in the study always talk on the basis that they should deliver high quality service.

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2. Literature review and conceptual framework

2.1 Internal marketing 2.1.1 Definitions

Internal marketing has its roots in service marketing (Gummesson 2008), but today it is not just functional in service companies but can be applied to any type of organisation (Rafiq & Ahmed 2000). As earlier mentioned the concept of internal marketing has been researched for about 40 years. When it comes to describing what internal marketing is, Huang and Rundle-Thiele (2015) counted up to 43 definitions in 2015 and their are still no jointly agreement in the academic community when it comes to the definition of the concept. Berry,Carbone and Haeckel (2002) also claims that it exist many different takes of internal marketing but they all have one common denominator namely that the customer also exist within the company, and that one should view the employees as a customers.

Berry, Carbone and Haeckel (2002) take on the definition is that internal marketing involves making a general climate within the organisation and creating job-products “that lead to the right service personnel performing the service in the right way” (Berry, Carbone, & Haeckel 2002 s.69). In another study by Leonard Berry (1981) he also stated that the same tools that are used to draw customers also can be used to retain and attract the most suitable employees and that these employees should be viewed as ‘internal customers’. According to this approach should the jobs be seen as internal products and the employees as internal customers and that one should aim to offer job-products that meets the expectations of these internal customers as well as meeting the objectives of the organization.

Rafiq and Ahmed (2000) identify three main phases of internal marketing being with 1) employee satisfaction, 2) customer orientation and 3) strategy implementation/change management phase. After carefully analysing these phases they stated their own definition of the concept. That internal marketing is: “a planned effort using a marketing-like approach to overcome organizational resistance to change and to align, motivate and inter-functionally co-ordinate and integrate employees towards the effective implementation of corporate and functional strategies in order to deliver customer satisfaction through a process of creating motivated and customer-oriented employees” (Rafiq & Ahmed, 2000, p, 461). To continue, this definition is containing five key elements that they found most relevant for a definition after analysing the earlier stated definitions.

2.1.2 Implementing internal marketing

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Targeting marketing internal is at least as important as directing it external, if not even more important (Lewis & Varey 2000). Moreover, it is meaningless to make promises to the customer before all within the company is ready to provide it. Therefor, internal marketing can be used to drive engagement to the corporate goals by creating a sense of shared responsibility to achieve successful results (Ahmed & Rafiq, 2003). Nicholas Ind (2003) also declare for the business benefits of internal marketing and focusing on selling the brand inside the company. The benefits is that it can lead to enhance satisfaction of the employees and in turn leads to loyal customers that will generate profits to the company. Even better effects are achieved when the internal marketing is done parallel with the external marketing, because then it will support the understanding of what is promised to the customer and thus also what is expected to be delivered (Ahmed & Rafiq 2003).

There needs to be a person responsible for the internal marketing in the company but should be implemented by all not just in one or certain parts of the company (Joseph 1996). To successfully implement internal marketing honesty, openness and conveying the underlying ideas and purpose are important (Papasolomou, Kitchen & Christofi 2017). It must be made clear why it is implemented in order to avoid complications and if not done correctly it can have completely opposite effects. Moreover, it can result in dissatisfaction and frustration among the employees if this is poorly executed. It must be borne in mind that employees are the backbone of an organization and that they experience the company culture on a daily basis. Therefore, how these employees are viewed and treated has a direct impact on how they treat the company's external customers (Papasolomou, Kitchen & Christofi 2017).

To begin with, it is important to hire the right individuals to the right position (Nart, Sututemiz, Nart & Karatepe 2019). This is crucial for the design to be as natural as possible. An employee who falsifies his or hers interest in the job will most likely experience burnout and this will lead to negative results. In a study by Nart et al. (2019) one of the things being studied was how genuine emotions was linked to the work performance. The study concluded that by hiring people who have a genuine interest in the work can lead to higher service delivery and also more personal service.

To continue, for a company to function there are two important factors, communication and information (Adolfsson & Samuelsson 2017). Moreover, how management communicates with employees is critical for the internal marketing. Nart et al. (2019) study suggest that employees should be given the opportunity to access information about the company's priorities and what there strategies is to achieve stated goals. Having access to this type of information can create a feeling among employees that what they are doing is important and meaningful. To continue, Ozuem, Limb and Lancaster (2018) writes that if a company succeeds in

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communicating the company's goals and visions to everyone within the company, this increases understanding of what is really important. Which in turn leads to motivation among the employees. Therefore, it is important to have a clear communication that reaches all parts of the company.

Every human wants to be treated as an individual and the most important part for a human is to feel and know that she/he is needed (Carlzon 1985). Therefore, the higher level of attention an organization gives its employees, the more customer-oriented they tend to appear, in addition to that, their loyalty to the organization and the work itself increases (Alvar, Naimi, Nasr & Maymand 2018). Alvar et al (2018) further advance that to successfully lead an organisation towards higher levels of customer satisfaction it starts internally with increasing the quality level of the employees by providing occupational enrichment such as training, job security, rewards and influence. By turning the focus internal and ensuring the needs and wants of the employees, it assists build internal trust and commitment towards the company and trust is a crucial part in managing the internal marketing successfully (Ahmed & Rafiq 2003). To continue, when internal marketing is successfully used it can help manage and investigate relationships within and around the organisation that in some way adds value.

2.2 Employee satisfaction and frontline employees In an examination of internal marketing orientation and its influence on the organisations performance by Tortosa, Moliner and Sánchez (2009), they partly determine that how the employees, that are in direct contact with the customers, interpret the internal marketing has a noticeably influence on the quality experienced by the organisations external customers. This is also supported by Gelb and Rangarajan (2014) study that shows this to be particularly true in business-to-business context where transactions to a greater extent are based on mutual trust. Moreover, is also pointed out that all industries benefits from having employees who are good at creating trust and credibility for the company and the brand.

2.2.1 Employee satisfaction

Like external marketing focusing on customers wants and needs, internal marketing focusing on the employees requirements and fulfil them in such way that the employee may be satisfied (Ishaque & Shahzad 2016). In a turbulent, unstable and competitive environment, it could be seen as a competitive advantage to have employees who know what is expected of them (Islami, Mulolli & Mustafa 2018). To know what is expected is a prerequisite for people to perform at a high level. Thus, it is important that managers are involved in employee development by motivating and evaluating, to create satisfaction for the employees.

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By creating employee satisfaction the opportunity to provide the external customers with good service quality increases (Ahmed & Rafiq 2003). In Rafiq and Ahmed (1993) examination of the scope of internal marketing they states that the implementation of internal marketing needs to be carefully controlled by reporting and training to achieve quality and customer-sensitiveness to the service that is provided. This contradicts the later study by Nicholas Ind (2003), who states that to deliver superior services the behaviour of the employees should not be set and fixed in a rulebook without the possibility of making decision based on a specific occasion. Furthermore, the author explains that it is more effective to give them the freedom to deliver personal response to the unique customer and that is what the customer is looking for and not something that is delivered by the book.

To create confidence to give employees this freedom and trust that the service can be deliver in unison with the company, a strong ideology in the company is important, and even more so that the employee actually understand and are committed to this ideology. In order to produce a strong ideology, it must be clearly designed, and it needs to be experienced and communicated to the employees in a relevant way (Ind 2003). There is also of importance with a common thinking and a shared responsibility for the final service quality that is delivered (Ahmed & Rafiq 2003), which is also facilitated by the ideology that helps to give focus to what is important and expected by the employees (Ind 2003). What is motivating people to contribute to the organisation's goals and future visions is a central question for all leaders. The answer to that questions according to Carlzon (1985) is to make them feel involved and keep them well informed. Thus, one can create self-esteem within the employee and this gives them the opportunity to find their own approach to their employment. Even more specifically, create a professional identity. When a person is given the freedom to take responsibility, resources releases that otherwise would not be available (Carlzon 1985). The author continue to explain that a person that do not have information can not take responsibilities, but a person that has information can not avoid taking responsibility.

2.2.2 Employee branding

Gelb and Rangarajan (2014), also agree on the importance of employee to understand the values and what the company represent. In their paper they are highlighting two ways of viewing employees, either element of the brand or as ´brand ambassadors´. It is most common that employees are preceded as element of the brand when in contact with customers, unlike brand ambassadors on which the designation claims are more like ambassadors that represent the brand in addition to the job context. This makes them advocate the brand for a larger scale outside work as well, including customers, potential customers and also reach new potential customer (Gelb &

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Rangarajan 2014). The idea of brand ambassadors is something that is viewed together with the concept of employee branding. Employee branding is a process used to strategically transform the employees to brand ambassadors by influence their behaviours to be in alliance with the organisations brand image, but also by providing them with a positive job experience (Biswas & Chaudhuri 2018). Employee branding is most commonly used in the service sector where the product offered often is executed by the employees of the company and there for it is extra essential that the behaviour reflect the organisational values and brand deliverables (Biswas & Chaudhuri 2018).

Employee branding is drawn from theories of marketing and organisational studies and contributing to the transfer of the brand identity in to the employees work behaviour (Wallace, Lings, Cameron & Sheldon 2014). Furthermore, if this brand image is successfully transmitted to the employees it enable them to experience and understand what is desired to be delivered from the companies part. There are a number of examples of successful employee branding as a source of competitive advantage (Wallace et al. 2014). Mangold and Miles (2007) argue that if a company can successfully developing the employee brand it can lead to lasting competitive advantage. Moreover, companies can also benefit from higher quality of service and that its employees stay longer with the company.

2.2.3 Frontline employees within retail

According to Ackfeldt and Coote (2005) retail employees are often young and less experienced, they have multiple roles to fulfil and are evaluated by their productiveness and the quality of their performance. Further, the frontline employees might be the most critical link in the deliverance of high customer service (Brandy &. Cronin 2001). A study mand in a retail bank in Russia the findings was that; how the frontline employees are perceived by the customer is a significant driver for customer satisfaction (Rod, Ashill & Gibbs 2016).

Porricelli, Yurova, Abratt and Bendixen (2014) argue that many companies placing far too much focus, energy and resources on only considering external marketing as a success factor instead of focusing the marketing internal to support the retail employees performance. This also agrees with Voorhees et.al (2017) who also means that it exist an opportunity to cut down on traditional marketing investments and instead capitalize on the on-site experience and personalized interactions. According to Zeithaml et al. (2017) the employees are the company personified in the eyes of the consumer. Moreover, they represent and symbolize the company through the contact with the customers. Therefore, the employees are the brand and they are the marketers and they are the service that is provided in the eyes of the consumer (Zeithaml et al. 2017). To continue, it is of great importance to take good care of

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employees so they in their turn will take good care of the customers (Gelb & Rangarajan 2014).

In a study of how internal marketing is used in the food retail industry in UK it was noticed that frontline employees view their job as non-important and that they do not understand their part within the company. Therefore, it is important to ensure that everyone within the company understands their part and what they contribute to the company as a whole (Ozuem, Limb & Lancaster 2018). Frontline employees of a company is spending a lot of time om serving the customer (Nart et al. 2019). This make them a valuable source to understand the needs and wants of the consumer. Therefore, the managers should take advantage of this and collect feedback and suggestions from the frontline employees.

To continue, this can be done by invite them to be involved in identifying the priorities of the company. This in turn can create a feeling of participation and support their identification with the company. Moreover, it can also enable evaluation of their efforts by learning of their mistake and be motivated by successes (Nart et al. 2019). In conclusion, by investing time and money in the working environment and continuous training, one can increase the sense of involvement and significance among the employees. Training can make them feel more important and valued but also make the employees more able and positive to deliver service (Ozuem, Limb & Lancaster 2018).

2.3 Service theory and service quality

2.3.1 Service theory

2.3.1.1 The service marketing triangle

The service marketing triangle has been developed by Mary Jo Britter and Christian Grönroos in the middle of the 1990´s (Grönroos 2015). The service marketing triangle is a strategic framework for visualising the significance of people to companies ability to keep promises and build customer relationships (Bitner 1995; Grönroos 1996).

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Figure 2.1 The service marketing triangle (redrawn from: Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2010)

On the left side of the triangle internal marketing and its critical part represented (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2010). It is representing the management’s engagement in enabling the execution of the service such as education, training, recruiting, motivating and reward. If not the employee that is delivering the service is founded and ready, the triangle will collapse and the company will fail to live up to what is promised. On the right side are the external marketing and the firms beginning of the service marketing. This side represents a company's activities to set up the customer's expectations. Lastly, in the bottom of the triangle is the interactive marketing represented. Marketing that is happening in real-time, in the interactions between the employees and the customers. This is where the moment of truth occurs (Norrman 2011) and it is here that the promises are kept or broken (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2010). In this occasions people have a critical role and if the expectations of the service does not live up to expectations, the customers will eventually leave.

2.3.1.2 Service-profit chain

The service profit chain is a model that has been applied to analyse retail performance (Pritchard & Silvestro 2005) and conceptualized that external service value is linked to customer satisfaction (Silvestro & Cross 2000). The model shows that the quality of the service delivered is a chain of cause effect relationships that starts off with the level of internal service quality developments (Paul & Sahadev 2018).

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Moreover, empirical findings have shown that the service quality offered by a company in fact has an influence on customer satisfaction. The principles of the service profit chain is that a customer that appreciate a companies offers are more likely to choose those companies than if a customer is not convinced by the companie (Bruhn & Georgi 2006)

Figure 2.2 Service-profit chain ( redrawn from: Heskett et al. 1994)

To continue, the service profit chain can assist managers to be given a clearer view of how the employee's contribution and performance influence the customer service deliverance and the business performance (Silvestro & Cross 2000). Further on, it is stressed that employee satisfaction and loyalty is generating customer satisfaction and that this relationship is a success factor for profitability and growth.

2.3.1.3 Gap-model

A well known model in service deliverance context is the Gap-model of service quality (Bruhn & Georgi 2006). With four internal gaps the model explains the determination of service quality. In addition to the internal gaps, we also have the heart of the model, the customer gap (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2010). The customer gap is the difference between the customers expectations and the actual experience. The proposal the model gives is to meet the customer's expectations or exceed them to close this gap. The first internal gap is the one of the listening gap and is referring to the gap between the customers expectations of the companie and the companies understanding of this expectations (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2010). By carefully listening to the customers and find out what they expect and also listening to the employees upward communication this gap can be closed. Strategies like implementing customer surveys and hiring mystery shoppers to assess employees performance can be useful.

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Figure 2.3 Gap-model (redrawn from: Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2010)

The second gap is the service design and standards gap. According to Zeithaml, Bitner and Gremler (2010) it is not a guarantee to deliver quality service even though the first gap is successfully closed. Moreover, it is important to understand the total customer experience and also succeed in designing this experience to meet or exceed the customers expectations. This is done by carefully considering every moment the customer has contacted the company. Even if one have a clear guideline for how the service should be performed, it is difficult to standardize the performance of the employees (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry 1985). The third gap is the performance gap and the largest chance of closing this gap is to back up those standards with the right people, technology and systems (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2010). In particular, ensure that the employees are motivated and able to deliver qualitative service and perform in a customer-oriented way and here internal marketing plays a critical role.

“An organization that hires the right people and trains and develops them to deliver service quality must also work to retain them” (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler 2010 p.6)

The fourth gap refers to that the delivered service and the service that is promised through external communications is going to affect how service quality is perceived from the customer's point of view (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry 1985). In order

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for this gap not to exist, it is required that all communication platforms deliver a unison message. For example, websites, direct mail, mobile advertising and printed media but also the physical evidence in the store design and the company's employees.

2.3.2 Service quality

Rafiq and Ahmed (1993) brings up the importers of using internal marketing to reach high quality on the delivered service and also that it should be carefully adapted to the customers needs. There are several researchers that has claimed that it is in ´the moment of truth´, in the interaction between the frontline employees and the customers that the quality of the service is primarily addressed by the customers (Normann 2011; Carlzon 1985; Grönroos 2008). The fact that the quality of service is determined in this moment of truth, it creates a focus that it all depends on the service meeting with the customer. Moreover, if the frontline employee does not perform successfully the chance is lost (Gummesson 2008). In this moments of truth the frontline employee and the customer is extradited to themselves and the direct impact is out of the company's control (Norrman 2011). To continue, the companies cannot directly control these service meetings but they have an invisible function that plays a big role in this meetings.

2.4 Conceptual framework As the theory has shown, there are many activities and concepts gathered under the concept internal marketing. Therefore, it is important to clarify the parts that will be of significance to this study. That has been done by drawing up a model showing all the concepts, their connections and context (see figure 2.4).

The basis of the conceptual framework of this study are the concepts of internal marketing, employee satisfaction and high quality service. Moreover, these three are the building blocks to be able to determine how internal marketing is perceived by store managers and how it can be used to work with service quality in the Swedish retail market. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the internal marketing impact within the company, supplementary concepts have been added. There are

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motivated frontline employees, feeling of importance, employee branding and three service theories.

To continue, the figure 2.4 shows that internal marketing can result in motivated frontline employees and make them feel important, which according to Nart et al. (2019) leads to satisfied employees. Having satisfied employees can make them advocates for the company throw employee branding (Biswas & Chaudhuri 2018), that in turn also will have an affect on the service quality (Mangold and Miles 2007). The service quality can also be guided thru the chosen service theories which in one way or another includes the need for internal marketing.

The synthesis of the theoretical concepts represented in this model will assist a comprehensive and founded analysis of the empirical result and to answer the research questions. It will also enable a determination of the understanding of internal marketing and how it can be used to guide the service deliverance.

Figure 2.4 Model of the conceptual framework (authors own contribution)

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3. Methods 3.1 Deductive approach

This research will take a deductive research approach. “Selecting approaches to research involves adopting a research philosophy, and an appropriate research approach and methodology” (Gray 2004 p. 33). The starting point of this study is drawn from previous knowledge and theories about internal marketing and its impact on service quality. When conducting a research, there are different approaches for the starting point, one can either take an inductive or a deductive approach or mix them both (Gray 2004). The deductive approach is starting from general premises or logical arguments about how something is perceived and it is common to test these premises against a number of hypothesis. Unlike the inductive approach that starts from observations or experiences of something and from these assumptions a general perception or belief is created (Walliman 2011).

According to the assumptions above the deductive approach will be most suitable for this research. Taking a deductive approach is often more common in quantitative research and inductive with qualitative research but not exclusively. Moreover, it is possible to use an deductive approach even thought the research method will be qualitative when aiming to view the relationship between theory and research (Bell, Bryman, & Harley 2019). This paper will use research question instead of hypothesis to investigate this relationship between the main concepts of this study, internal marketing, employee satisfaction, and service quality. In deductive research approach hypothesis (in this case research question) are developed to make sense of the relationship between two or more concepts (Gray 2004).

3.2 Qualitative research method

The research question and purpose of this study require individual viewpoints to deliver relevant sample and good quality of data. Therefore, three retail chains with physical stores in Sweden have been selected and semi-structured interviews will be conducted of two store managers from each company. According to these choices a qualitative research method is used. Qualitative research methods means using words as data in contrast to the quantitative research methods were data consists of numbers (Bell, Bryman & Harley 2019). In qualitative research the interest is located in founding out people experiences and the questions that is asked is about understanding this experiences rather than measuring numbers (Merriam & Tidell 2016). Therefor, qualitative method is appropriate to use when the results may not need to be counted or measured and general information is sought and when the question or problem is clear or known (Hammarberg, Kirkman, & de Lacey 2016). 25 (65)

In short, the research process has looked like this; the author has gathered information on what is already known in the subject and, then empirical data was collected and analysed and then discussed in the light of what is already known about the subject. The aim of the qualitative study is to be able to describe something in a smaller scale and the individual person is in focus (Bell, Bryman & Harley 2019). The qualitative method has an advantage when looking for specific relationships and contexts and when the context is important.

There are some issues related to qualitative research including that it is problematic to make generalizations to other settings apart from the one the study had been conducted from. Moreover, that the generalization of qualitative findings is rather directed at theory than at a population. In other words, the quality of the theoretical conclusion is crucial for the realization of the genre. It is also argued that qualitative research has a lack of transparency (Bell, Bryman & Harley 2019). Therefore, the chosen sample is carefully explained and the execution of the study will be pointed out as clearly as possible.

3.2.1 Types of data

“Data collection is the key point of any research project” (Bell, Bryman & Harley 2019 p.11). When gather information, there are two types of data, primary and secondary data and it differs in ways of collecting them. In this section, an account of the respective data collection will be presented.

In this study the primary data has been collected through semi-structured interviews to provide the data needed to answer the research question. The primary data is thus derived from a qualitative research method and will consist of words and descriptions. In contrast quantitative studies were numbers and volume is used (Gray 2004), this qualitative study will collect data after ´less is more´and try to collect data in order to understand relationships on a deeper level. Primary data is the data that has been collected closest to the event and are there by the closest one can come the truth (Walliman 2011). Primary data can be collected through, measurement, observations, interrogation and participation. One should be aware that primary data is the data that takes most time consuming to collect and this is not always possible.

Secondary data will not be used in this study only primary data from the interviews. Secondary data would have been a good alternative if not enough interviews had been possible to conduct. Furthermore, now that the option to collect primary data is available, it is a more credible way to perform the study. It is possible in some social research questions to use data that is collected by other researchers in other studies, this data is then called secondary data (Hox & Boeije 2005). Even though any type of

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primary data can be secondary data, it can also be official statistics or administrative records for examples.

On the other hand has secondary sources been used. When primary data has been interpreted or processed in any way it is called secondary sources. Secondary sources may therefore have lost some of their validity. When using secondary sources, it is important to stay critical of the source and make an assessment of the information it contains (Williman 2011). To determine this on the used articles, only articles that is peer reviewed has been used in the literature review. Secondary sources has been collected in forms of books and academic journals articles related to the studies focus. In the introduction chapter up-to-date business resources has be used to highlight the need for this study.

The main topics of the academic sources are internal marketing, frontline employees, employee satisfaction and service quality. To ensure that the information in this paper is valid and relevant to the existing research area the secondary sources are balanced with both new and old studies and views on the subject. To continue, the reason for using slightly older sources are because many of the studies and reasoning about chosen concept lead to the same authors who is and has been well known and active in the subject, Christian Grönroos and Leonard Berry. Furthermore, the author believes that a good balance of the spread on sources will help see the relations between the past, present and future. This is also an advantage in order to get an overall picture of how internal marketing and service quality have been researched and developed over the years and it will give a solid ground to analyse the collected primary data off the study.

3.3 Research strategy 3.3.1 Semi-structured interviews

In qualitative research the interviews are often consisted of open-end questions and are often less structured (Merriam & Tidell 2016). For this research semi-structured interviews has been chosen. Semi-structured interviews are suitable to use when examining a focused topic and aiming to collect someone's perspective on that topic (Hammarberg, Kirkman, & de Lacey 2016). Besides that this strategy is best suited to answer the research question, this structure was chosen to give the correspondent freedom to interpret and answer the question as unaffected as possible. Also to support the researcher not to lose the tread or the subject and ensure that all are included that is meant to be investigated.

To continue, an interview guide was developed containing 25 interview questions. These questions were asked in all of the interviews, but not always in the same order and with alternate follow-up question. The follow-up questions were produced

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depending on what the respondent answered. The questions for the interview were set in such way that it should not be possible to answer yes or no. The questions asked to the participants were more or less structured questions. By using a less structured alternative like semi-structured interview it can allow the respondent to define what is being investigated in unique ways. It is also allowing the researcher to be more flexible and the order of the questions does not need to be set ahead (Merriam & Tidell 2016). The interviews were conducted through Zoom with one person at a time. Moreover, in total six interviews were conducted with a time consumption of approximately one hour per interview. See figure 3.1 for operationalisation and appendix A (Swedish) and B (English) for the interview schedule.

3.3.2 Operationalisation

“Concepts themselves are abstract ideas that form the building blocks of hypotheses and theories” (Gray 2004 p. 6). In table 3.1 the main concept of this study been lined up with the respective interview question to clarify and ensure that everything is covered within the framework of answering the research question. Furthermore, to ensure that data collected through the interviews are made measurable. Through operationalisation one create operational inductions within the framework of the study. By operationalizing the underlying concepts for the study are made measurable and it also creates the conditions for data to be collected only for what is supposed to be measured (Gray 2004).

In total, 25 interview questions were prepared to cover the main concepts; internal marketing, frontline employees, employee satisfaction, employee branding and service quality and also additional question (see appendix A (for Swedish) and B (for English). Additional question contains questions to get an overall introduction to the person being interviewed and are the first questions asked in the interview. The interview questions are written in Swedish and the interviews were also conducted in Swedish. This is because English is a second language for the correspondents and that it could potentially decrease the quality of the interview. The author believes that the collection of data in a language other than the mother tongue may have an impact on the result.

The interviews will later be transcribed into English before they be included in the study. The author is aware of that it might be a risk to translate the interviews and that is a risk that valuable data become lost in translation. Therefor, the author will be extra careful and also represent all the citation in both an English translation and then compliment with the original citation in Swedish right afterwards.

Concepts Interview Reasoning

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question

These questions provide information about the respondent current and previous career 1-7 och 27 Additional commitments and also information about the questions company they work for. This can help create credibility to the answer that is given. It also gives some insight to their role as store managers..

To help determine the respondents Internal understanding of internal marketing and how marketing 8-14 it is used within the company the person work for. Also to observe the level of engagement in

Frontline To gain a understanding of how the employees 15-18 respondent views the frontline employees role in the company.

Employee 19-20 To gain an understanding of how the satisfaction respondent motivate and retain their employees.

Employee To observe the respondents perception of branding 21-22 having employees that are representing the company beyond work responsibilities.

To gain an understanding of the respondents Service quality perception of service quality. Further, how 23-26 important the respondent consider service quality that is delivered to the customer is. Figure 3.1 Operationalisation chart (authors own contribution)

3.3.3 Sampling

This study aims to investigate how store managers in the Swedish retail market use internal marketing to work with service quality. With this in mind, the study will need to have store managers' that wants to contribute with there perspectives and opinions. When the sample of the population (in this case store managers) to be investigated is far too large, it is not always possible to gather everyone to contribute to the research. The solution to this is to choose a few from that population and hopefully those will be enough to collect data that will represent the others as well. This process that involves selecting a few participants from a larger group is called sampling (Walliman 2011). A typical sample is the ones that is selected to represent the average person, situation or phenomena of the chosen topic (Merriam & Tidell

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2016). In this study the major criteria was that the participant should work as a store manager for a retail company on the Swedish market.

There are two types of sampling procedures, probability sampling and non-probability sampling (Walliman 2011). Probability sampling means that those selected are only selected by chance, unlike non-probability, where participants are more consciously selected (Gray 2004). Non-probability is used when it is hard to access the whole population (Walliman 2011) and when taking the samples, the results need to be interpreted and evaluated before they can be applied to a population (Gray 2004). Purposive sampling is a type of non-probability sampling and is when the participants are selected to represent the wider population. The companies of the selected store managers for this study is; Mio, Systembolaget and Åhléns.

As mentioned earlier in the paper, at the time of writing, a pandemic and spread of the virus Covid-19 is on going. The retail industry is severely affected and many companies have a lot on their tables to resolve situations that arise as a result of this pandemic. This had a major impact on the sampling and the opportunity for companies to contribute in this study. Therefore, this study contains three companies instead of six, which was the aim from the beginning. Instead, two store managers from each company were interviewed. The advantages of purposive sampling is that it is less expensive and there is no need for a list of all the population elements (Acharya, Prakash, Saxena & Nigam 2013). Purposive sample also brings with it certain limitations, it can be difficult to defend the choices made when it comes to participants (Rai & Thapa 2015). This has been kept in mind by the author and has thus been transparent with the selections and on what grounds they are chosen.

Furthermore, the other store manager at each company was selected through convenience sampling. When choosing samples based on time, money location or, as in this case, availability of respondents it is called convenience sampling. The risk when choosing samples only by convenience sampling is that the result of the sample can be less content rich and have lower credibility (Merriam & Tidell 2016). However, because the three companies are selected through purposive sampling and all participants are within the sampling frame of retail stores in Sweden, this should not be an issue for this particular study.

The participating retail companies were contact through email if there was an existing email address for the specific store, otherwise, the store was contacted through phone call. Due to prevailing circumstances (Covid-19 pandemic), it was difficult to get hold of companies that had the opportunity to participate and therefore, as earlier mentioned, some of the selected are collected via convenience sampling. Unfortunately, there were some problems with the fact that three people

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whom the author booked time for interview did not attend at the time. This complications also contributed to the case with convenience sampling.

From the beginning, the aim was to have one male and one female store manager from each company. But because of the difficulties of finding participants the author had to call the companies and choose those who had the opportunity and time to set up. At least it is 50/50 represented between female and male store managers if to look at the total sample. Below in figure 3.2 all the companies, store manager and city are presented.

Figure 3.2 Companies and store managers and city (authors own contribution)

3.3.4 Implementation of the interviews

After the company chose and the store managers said that they were interested in participating, everyone was sent an email with a document of information. This informational document contained the research topic, why this study is being made and its purpose. To continue, it also states that it is completely voluntary to participate, how the interview is going to be designed and how the data is going to be handled and also that it was going to be recorded. Moreover, the participant interviewed has the right to cancel the interview at any time and ask questions if there are any ambiguities and that the analysis an interpretation of the data will be provided truthfully. Lastly, that the participant will have access to the summary of the interview before it is written into the paper and also where the study will be made public when completed. Why all of this is important to inform the participant of is closer discussed in ethical considerations.

When the participant had read through the information and still wanted to be a part of the study, a time for the interview were booked. The interview as mentioned conducted over Zoom that made it possible to see and speak to each other digitally. In this way, the author and the participants could still see each other and it was easy to arrange and record. Bell, Bryman and Harley (2019) wrote that making interviews over the computer has become the most popular form. Before it was time to conduct

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the first real interview for the study, a pilot test was done. This is to test the questions, how the interviewee perceived the question and how the answer might be. This was also done so that the author would be well prepared before the data began to be collected.

When it was time to start interviewing and before the questions began to be asked, the participants were asked if they needed anything to be clarified. They were also asked if it was okay to use their real names and the company they work for in the study, which was something everyone of them agreed on. Then the recording was started and the questions were asked. When the interview was complete, the author thanked them for participating. The recordings of the interviews were later transcribed in writing as preparatory to the analysis of the collected data.

3.4 Method of data analysis

Qualitative data are not straightforward to analyse do to the large amount of unstructured textual material (Bell, Bryman & Harley 2019). In quantitative data analysis there exist clearer rules of how to analyse, while the data analysis in qualitative consist of general approaches. The purpose of this research is to describe store managers perception of internal marketing and how they use it to work with service quality among their frontline employees. After each interview, the author has transcribed the audio recording. From this dissertation, significant and interesting phrases, words and sentences were selected from each interview.

Content analysis is one of the most common approaches when analysing qualitative data (Gray 2011). This means that one draw conclusions about the collected data by objectively creating categories and classifications. Content analysis is more deductive to it approach and to achieve objectivity to this analysis process criteria of selection needs to be established. As mentioned before the interview question are designed to give answers in these concepts represented within the literature review and conceptual framework. Thesis were also used to further categorise and classify the findings in the empirical data. Moreover, the data is also systemized according to the conceptual framework and when the collected data has been categorised and classified. The challenging part of this process was to sort out what actually had a purpose and relevance for the study among the tremendous amount of text, when some of the answers hovered out of purpose. But when the volume of text had been reduced, the next step was the analysis itself.

The author started with finding similarities and differences between the answers given among the respondents and write these under appropriate headings. Merriam and Tidell (2016) states that it is important to organize the collected data in a way that make sense for the researcher and to create an inventory of the material so one

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always have control and know what one have. Analysis is the process that is used to answer the research question. Through the data analysis, one make sense of what was said by the respondents and what has been seen and heard by the researcher. Therefore, the findings were wrote under these common and appropriate sub-headings in the paper to clearly show what the different respondents expressed and how these relate to each other. These findings were then analyzed through the author's insights that emerged from the findings which then lead to conclusions that answered the research questions.

3.5 Quality of research 3.5.1 Saturation

Saunders et al. (2018) suggests that suratation should not be considered as something that is achieved or not. Instead, it should be considered which degree of saturation is achieved for the specific purpose and also how answered the selected research question(s) is. Given the scope and time aspect of the research, the author believes that the saturation has been achieved to such an extent that the analyzed data shows clear patterns and similarities in how respondents responded in the interviews. Furthermore, the analysed findings has reached a level of insights to state that the study has provided fruitful interpretations that can move the conversation of internal marketing and service quality forward.

Saturation is used in qualitative research to justify that the data collected and/or analysed is sufficient and that more material would be redundant (Saunders et al. 2018). It is impossible to know in advance when one will reach saturation. The point of suratation can be reached when the researcher start to acknowledge that the same answer is given to the questions that is being asked and nothing new is added. Moreover, it is first when the collected data is being analysed that it is possible to recognize that the data is saturated (Merriam & Tidell 2016).

3.5.2 Trustworthiness

As mentioned before it is important that the chosen method for the data collection is clearly stated and motivated, and is needed to be able to create reliability for the research (Walliman 2011). Reliability is about in which extend the study can be replicated with similar results (Gray 2004). The researcher also needs to convince the reader that the knowledge that is represented in the study has some validity (Walliman 2011). Validity involves both internal and external validity and means to which extent is meant to be measured has been measured and also to what extent these can be generalized over the chosen setting (Bell, Bryman & Harley 2019). Some argue that validity and reliability cannot be applied to qualitative research and that trustworthiness should be used instead. To ensure trustworthiness to the

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qualitative study there are four criteria to take into consideration; credibility, transferability that corresponds to the validity and dependability and confirmability instead of reliability.

The credibility in this research attempts to be substantiated with accurate explanations regarding the approach of the study. The author has also been honest, open, sensitive and respectful when handling the presentation of the collected data. The transferability are fair in that the empirical findings have been presented in an early and honest manner. All the original collected data in form of audio recordings is saved and are available upon request to ensure the dependability of the research. Also descriptions and explanations of the approach and who have participated in the study in this method chapter help to increase dependability and the confirmability. That the approach and that all choices are described enables the study to be done in the same way again and then be able to get similar results.

3.5.3 Ethical considerations

It is important to uphold a good research practice and there is a number of principles to consider to ethically perform the research (Vetenskapligarådet 2019). These principles should provide researchers with guidance on practical ethical and intellectual problems. The principles are; honesty, reliability, responsibility and respect. Deviation from good research practice can mean diminished confidence in the research and lead to misleading results. This may also mean that those who participate in the research could be harmed.

It is important to protect participants right when conducting interviews (Ryan, Coughlan & Cronin 2009). Data that is collected during an interview is a person's understanding and perception of a certain topic and it is of importance to have respect for how this fact is handled and that the interview is based on common trust. Therefore, it is important to clarify to the person who will be interviewed what the interview is about and what its purpose. It is also important to clarify these points in writing for those who participate along with other basic aspects such as rights and anonymity and also to have it signed with consent of the various aspects (Ryan, Coughlan & Cronin 2009). As mentioned earlier in 3.3.4, all the participants was informed of all the criterias above.

It is also important to present the collected data in a correct and honest way. Fabrications and distortions is something that can arise from carelessness or ignorance (Vetenskapligarådet 2017). This means that research processes have in some way been manipulated. Therefore, it is important to be careful about the presentation of the data to avoid fabrications and distortions. Regarding the use of secondary data used, it will be clearly stated what is the author's own interpretations and what are quotes. This will be done to avoid plagiarism witch also is a issue

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related to ethics when writing a scientific text (Carver, Dellva, Emmanuel & Parchure 2011). Plagiarism is considered as scientific dishonesty and is the most common ethical violation (Vetenskapligarådet 2017). Plagiarism is when the researcher uses research material in a conscious or unconscious way so that it is not clear that the material is in fact someone else's.

3.5.4 Sustainable considerations

Sustainability is not a core subject in this degree project. Nevertheless, the sustainability of the process writing this degree project will be considered. Regarding travelling in the purpose of this project if needed it will be done in the most sustainable alternative available. Concerning disposable waste minimum amount of paper will be used and make sure to use digital version as much as possible to avoid printouts. To sustainable collecting the data the interviews will be executed over Zoom. Zoom is a program that enables E-meeting, or meeting other people virtually (over the Internet). The reason for this is to avoid unnecessary transport but mainly because of the current pandemic and Covid-19. General directive states that no unnecessary journeys should be made and that one should keep a safe distance to other people in order to reduce the spread of the disease (Folkhälsomyndigheten,b, 2020). Therefore, it is a more sustainable way to do the interviews online and thereby take social responsibility under these prevailing circumstances.

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4. Empirical findings and analysis

4.1 Companies and store managers 4.1.1 Mio AB

Mio (originally: “Möbelhandlarnas inköps förbund” the furniture dealers' purchasing association) is a furniture store that sells everything from beds and sofas to small ornaments. Mios business idea is to be the obvious choice when it comes to furniture and furnishings for the price- and quality-conscious customer and always deliver a positive customer experience (mio.se). They have about 70 stores in Sweden and majority of the store are franchisees. The store in Kalmar belongs to the Bro Möbler AB that has 13 Mio stores around Sweden. The store in Karlskrona is owned by Åsa Jobratt.

4.1.1.1 Magnus Khrinde, Kalmar

Magnus Khrinde started as store manager at Mio 2017 and has total responsibility for the Mio store in Kalmar. He has worked within retail since 1990, going from shoe salesman to department manager to store manager and regional manager. They are currently 30 employees in the store in Kalmar and 16 of them work as frontline employees. The vision of Mio Kalmar is to become the biggest in furniture in 2022.

4.1.1.2 Åsa Jobratt, Karlskrona

Åsa Jobratt was born into the retail industry, her father owned a furniture shop. She took over the family business over 20 years ago and the family company Lindahls Möbler AB became a Mio store in the 70s. At the time of the interview, the Karlskrona store had just achieved their goals and is therefore facing the task of setting up new ones. Currently the store has a total of 17 people working and all are working full time.

4.1.2 Systembolaget AB

Systembolaget has a monopoly on alcohol in sealed vessels (for more information about the monopoly go to systembolaget.se). Systembolaget has sales rules that are designed according to the laws that exist for alcohol that the company and the employees must adhere to. The sales rules they work with everyday are that they must not sell to someone who is underage (under 20), someone who is noticeably intoxication or when there are suspicions of peddling. Systembolagets aim is to minimize the impact on society in relation to alcohol.

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4.1.2.1 David Boistrup, Växjö

David Boistrup has 17 years of experience within retail. He as store manager for a gaming shop, after which he ended up as head of department and then department store manager for an electronic store. Now he has worked at Systembolaget in Växjö as store manager for four years. They are currently 14 employees and are the store is fairly large, a smaller one of the big ones he explains.

4.1.2.2 Johannes Ledel, Halmstad

Johannes Ledel has seven years of experience in retail and has worked within Systembolaget for all these seven years. Now he is a store manager of a Systembolaget store in Halmstad, this store is fairly large and consist of 20 employees.

4.1.3 Åhléns AB

The family company Åhléns was founded in 1899 in Insjön and today they are Sweden's leading department store chain with 57 stores in Sweden (Åhléns.se). At Åhléns you can find fashion, beauty, decor and entertainment under one roof. Their vision is as follows; "A little better every day" (“lite bättre varje dag”) and is divided into two parts. One that they should be a little better for the customer every day and help them find a lifestyle that is little better every day. The other part is that they should be a little better every day as a business to be able to help customers. The goal is to be the modern department store for the conscious woman in the middle of her life. They want to offer a good mix of product and prices and that it should be both inspiring and accessible.

4.1.3.1 Anja Smittsarve, Visby

Anja Smittsarve has worked in retail for 30 years. She has worked her way up from internship to salesman to store manager to regional manager and now she is department store manager at Åhléns in Visby, where she has now been for three years. The Åhléns store at Visby is a one-floor department store divided into the departments of fashion, beauty, home and children. They are usually 15 people who work their, but during the summers and the christmas they are 4-8 people more so this department store is more seasonally controlled as Visby has more visitors around that time of the year.

4.1.3.2 Jenny Carlsson, Karlskrona

Jenny Carlsson started to work in retail 1999. Most of the time it has been within fashion. She has been store manager at Åhlens in Karlskrona for four years. She

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explains Åhlens as a company as everything under the same roof and the vision is omni, to reach for the customer to meet the needs of a-z. In the Karlskrona store there is two floors, the lower level consists of fashion and beauty and the upper floor has home decor and children's section. Currently there are 13 employees working there.

4.2 The role as store manager All the interviewees expresses themselves differently but with the same essence as it pertained of what the assignment is as store manager. When it came to the question what they consider the most challenging being a store manager. Most respondents considered that one of the major challenges is getting a group to go in the same direction. Also other similar answers was provided.

According to Åsa Jobratt, her job as a store manager is to manage the store and take care of the employees. According to David Boistrup, "our mission is to provide good service and to comply with the sales rules, and to ensure the availability of our customers to our goods", (“vårt uppdrag är ju att ge god service och att hålla försäljnings reglerna, säkerställa tillgången för våra kunder på våra varor”) is briefly what the assignment is at the store level within Systembolaget. Magnus Khrinde, comments that it is important that the store managers can prove vulnerable and also show that you want to be where the others are. He also says that it is important to find a high lowest level and to have a situation-based leadership.

Jenny Carlsson explains the position as very exciting and that new challenges occur and new things that is happening everyday. Anja Smittsarve at Åhléns in Visby, agrees with her that it is very fun because it happens so much all the time at Åhléns. Both Anja Smittsarve and Jenny Carlsson think that they live Åhlén's vision all the time and they improve and get a little better every day. It is a fantastic fun job because it happens a lot and goes so fast, says Anja Smittsarve. Also that it is a large department store and that she get to meet so many customers.

When it comes to the challenges of being a store manager, Åsa Jobratt, say that the challenge is to make sure that the employees feel good. Magnus Khrinde also thinks it is important to make everyone feel seen and that it is a challenge to make sure you do not miss anyone. He is also one of those who think it is a challenge to get everyone to steer in the same direction and so is David Boistrup. David Boistrup also answered that it is important to, "realize that you are responsible for a business, [...] that I have been mandated to run a business according to the sales rules that exist and effect the collective agreements that exist" (“inse att man är ansvarig för en verksamhet,[...] att jag har ju fått mandat att driva en verksamhet enligt de försäljningsregler som finns och efter de kollektivavtalen som finns” ).

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David Boistrup also mention scheduling, to schedule so that all employees have the opportunity to recovery and to have time for development in the work, and that this can be a challenge. Planning and communication is something Anja Smittsarve also experiences as a challenge. When things go fast as it does in retail, it is a challenge to catch up and communicate everything. No matter how much one try to communicate, it still feels like it is something that is being missed, she explains. Johannes Ledel's answer was something that stood out a bit more. His answer to the question was that one can sometimes feel relatively alone in ones store format. He believes that Systembolagets stores can differ so tremendously from each other and in this way they can be difficult to find common denominators that can support each other in daily operations.

4.3 Internal marketing 4.3.1 The perception of internal marketing

It is mentioned earlier that it exist a great confusion in the literature what is meant by internal marketing, this also proved to be the case in this study. According to Rafiq and Ahmed (2000) it is difficult to implement and adapt the internal marketing in practice, because many different activities have been placed under the concept. It can be discerned that those who participated in the study believes that internal marketing is important but that their view of what the concept means is unclear. None of the participation noted that they officially used the concept of internal marketing within the company. Although many of the activities for internal marketing, such as information, communication and education, are brought up by all the store managers during the interviews.

However, it was clear that all companies worked with internal marketing in one way or another. At Systembolaget, David Boistrup explained that they do not use the word internal marketing instead it is expressed as profiling. He goes on to say, that it is clear that Systembolaget want to be a responsible company when it comes to the environment and alcohol consumption and that they are meticulous about how to talk about these things. Furthermore, David Boistrup explains that he believes that all successful companies use internal marketing to have something to identify themselves with in the company. To continue, the majority of the interviewees literally expressed that internal marketing is very important.

Anja Smittsarve's perception of internal marketing is that it is about how they at Åhlens communicate internally. Åsa Jobratt summarized internal marketing as follows; "internal marketing is to bring out the good we have, the good we do" (“intern marknadsföring det är ju att föra fram det goda vi har, det bra vi gör”) Jenny Carlsson tell us that at Åhlens, much revolves around information. This is also called by Magnus Khindre, according to him, it always starts with a why. "We always try to

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present why, why and what is the customer benefit with this and what is the benefit for ourselves with this." (“ Vi försöker alltid presentera varför, varför och vad är kundnyttan med detta och vad är det för nytta för oss själva med det här.”

Johannes Ledels perception of internal marketing is that the company should have some form of pitch towards the employees and that can be used to bring everyone on the track. He believes that internal marketing are of importance and that a company's goals and vision is lived on all levels for it to work. Johannes Ledel also adds that Systembolaget has in its strategic plan for 2023 to be better at promoting Systembolaget as an employer and workplace. But if the employees in the store are satisfied with the workplace, it is the best marketing promotion, he says..

The author reflected that it was only David Boistrup at Systembolaget in Växjö who came close to mentioning that they have a concept for how they think and act about how the company is presented to the employees. As previously mentioned, he said that instead of internal marketing, they express themselves in the term profiling. The others respondents said that the companies they worked for had no strategies or regulations for the internal marketing. To continue, it is also interesting that everyone agrees that it is important with internal marketing but that no one can really describe what it is and its purpose at a deeper level. This shows that both theory and empirical findings are consistent and that it believes to be hard to define the concept of internal marketing. Also that it is not clear what activities should be defined as internal marketing and the effect they can have on the company as a whole. Although that they do not speak in terms of internal marketing as presenting the company to the employees.

4.3.2 Communication and Information

Why, was a word that was recurring during the interview with Magnus Khrinde , store manager for Mio in Kalmar. He was clear that it is important to inform and communicate why, when implementing new things within the company. Ozuem, Limb & Lancaster (2018) highlights the importance of having a clear communication that reaches all parts of the company. Information and communicating proved to be an important factor for all the store managers in this study. However, different approaches and thoughts of how it is done. How the management communicates with employees is critical for the internal marketing according to Adolfsson and Samuelsson (2017). Moreover, communication and information are two important factors for a business to function.

4.3.2.1 Communication

When asked how the store managers communicate the company's goals and visions to the employees, the answers varied slightly. Both Åsa Jobratt and Magnus Khrinde

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store managers on Mio, thinks it is important to involve the employees in the company's goals and visions. Åsa Jobratt explains how they work with vision documents that are produced together with the employees. This is to bring down Mio's visions at a local level. Once a year Mio in Karlskrona closes and all the employees have a day when they together discuss strategic questions. Among other things, they go through the past year and discuss long-term and short-term goals, how they will work to reach them. These day also tend to have different themes from year to year. Åsa Jobratt, gives an example from one years when it was an employee who suffered from burnout, and then they talked about what factors affect the wellbeing and what you can do to influence them.

Furthermore, Magnus Khrinde tells that at his store they use goal images (målbilder) to reach their goals. He thinks it is important to involve the employees, because then things become something more than just what he tells them to do in a certain way. Their goal image work (målbildsarbete) is that everyone should be involved and that everyone should be able to contribute and understand what it means to reach the goals. This is done by dividing the store employees into smaller or larger groups where they can discuss and come up with suggestions on how to achieving these goals. These ideas are then sorted and graded jointly by all the employees. In this way, creative ideas are created which then become concrete actions, Magnus Khrinde explains. He further explains that he thinks this a very good way to get everyone involved and that it otherwise easily becomes just a number. In this way, it becomes concrete actions on an action plan to get closer to the goal.

This means that both store managers at Mio have a similar approach to communicating Mio's visions and goals to their employees. According to Ozuem, Limb and Lancaster (2018) a company that successfully communicate their vision and goals to the employees, will in return get more motivated employees. Jenny Carlson, store manager on Åhléns also thinks it is important to involve the employees and keep them updated and well informed. It is better and more fun to work together according to Jenny Carlsson. She also tells us that you can have thoughts yourself but that it is important to bring in the thoughts of the employees because it is them who has the daily contact with the customer and experience their needs and wants. For Anja Smittsarve, at Åhléns Visby, transparency is important and that they have an open dialogue with each other.

Systembolagets vision, as mentioned earlier, is to minimize the impact on society in relation to alcohol. On systembolaget in Växjö and Halmstad both the store managers expresses that it is important that this is done all the time. In the case of Systembolaget, the vision, as mentioned earlier, are that one should drink alcohol where as few as possible get hurt in the community. This vision are both Johannes Ledel and David Boistrup communicating on a daily basis and it is important for both of them to remind the employees of the value of the work done at

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Systembolaget and that it makes a difference. Systembolaget has sales rules that are designed according to the laws that exist for alcohol that the company and the employees must adhere to. The ones you work with everyday David Boistup explains, are that you must not sell to someone who is underage (under 20), someone who is noticeably intoxicated or when there are suspicions of peddling. It is also important that we remind each other in the store of these rule, he says, that you are reminded to ask about the identification, for example.

Johannes Ledel, experience it as relatively easy to communicate Systembolagets vision. That it is something they talk about already when someone is hired and then continue to talk about every day. He believes that it is a challenge to communicate this to the customer rather than among the employees. Johannes Ledel and his employees see it in everyday life and meet people who have problem dealing with alcohol and then it become easy to talk about, he says. Anja Smittsarve says that she also thinks it is something they do all the time. She adds that she feel that she fits well and that she thrive in Åhlén's spirit. Also in the values Åhléns has that they care, they dare and that their want is also how she is as a person. Therefore, she feels that she and here employees live this values all the time.

4.3.2.2 Information

Nart et al. (2019) state that having access to information about the company can create a feeling among employees that what they are doing is important and meaningful. All the store managers ensure that they provide information about the company to their employees in some way. David Boistrup and Jenny Carlsson states that it is important that the employees themselves are driven in the information search. Jenny Carlsson thinks that it is important that the employees them self seeks information and that they do not accept the everyday life as it is. She believes that she want questions that can lead to development and that it is a challenge that she as a leader is looking for. "Think it's about the more information employees have about all possible channels within the company, the safer and safer they will be in their role in everyday life"(“tror att det handlar om ju mer information anställda har om alla möjliga kanaler inom företaget desto tryggare och säkrare blir dem på sin roll i vardagen”).

Anja Smittsarve, tells us that Åhléns has an intranet that is constantly updated where the employees have the opportunity to update themselves about what is happening within Åhlens. She tells us that it is a fast channel that is very effective and she believes that this intranet is a crucial part in Åhléns success. Systembolaget also has its own intranet called “Vinet”. Here, all employees can openly access all information and everything that happens related to Systembolaget. David Boistrup explains that his role as a store manager is to ensure that everyone shares the information that is important. Otherwise, he works so everyone independently search for information. David Boistrup believes that it is important to make the information

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flow perceived so it works as well as possible for the employees. He continues, otherwise it could easily be that only what the store manager thinks is important that is communicated to the employees. Being able to find out things yourself David Boistrup believes the employees feel that they can access the information in a completely different way.

Both David Boistrup and Jenny Carlssons views on the information flow is there by consistent with Carlzon (1985) reasoning; that one can create self-esteem within the employee by making them feel involved and keep them well informed. This gives them the opportunity to find their own approach to their employment. Magnus Khrinde and Åsa Jobratt tell us that at Mio in Kalmar and Karlskrona is using monthly and morning meetings. Åsa Jobratt are once a month going through detailed information with the employees, regarding numbers, goals and how it goes for the store and similar. She is also gathering the employees one hour before opening every morning to review general information together.

Magnus Khinde also have this morning meetings with his employees. He explains that at the morning meeting, they go through yesterday's figures, what happened the day before and what will happen during the day. He also points out that he use the figures as a basis to why they do things as they do how they should do it and to show the outcome. Magnus Khindes view regarding the importance of why, supports Carlson's (1985) statement that a person that have information can not avoid taking responsibility. Furthermore, it can be read that all store managers in some way keep the employees informed and updated to guide them in their work.

Just like Magnus Khrinde and Åsa Jobratt, Johannes Ledel also tells us that they have morning meetings every morning to talk about things that have happened and will happen. Johannes Ledel also tells us about how the information flow overall look and that it consists of theme meetings, daily meetings, monthly meetings and reconciliations. He also says that in his store the information flow works in a way that they have a management group consisting of four employees that possesses different qualifications. This management group thus holds in certain parts of the information flow and meetings, they are also responsible for follow-up when it comes to, for example, new implementations being made.

4.3.3 Training and hiring

In order to deliver a good customer meeting and quality of service, one need to hire people who have the right basic conditions to do a good job. Nart et al. (2019) writes about the importance with having the right person at the right place. All respondents had some criteria what they thought was important that those who work in the frontline of the store possess. The majority of them mentioned that it is important with the volition and that the person are socially competent if to work with service. Jenny Carlsson, believes that if a person is curious, have energi and a desire to learn

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one can come a long way. Just like Jenny Carlsson, Anja Smittsarve thinks above all that the desire to learn is important. Also that the person is flexible and open and can meet and be involved in helping someone else are very important qualities.

David Boistrup, tell us that he must ensure that the person is reliable and responsible. This is needed for the person to be able to carry out the work and he also wants the person to recognize oneself in Systembolaget's values. He continue to explain that it also is of importance that the person have a good perception of what service is and who can read the mood and what the customer wants and then act on it. Magnus Khinde think it is important that the person is radiating joy and that sees a joy in meeting people. When hiring new people, it is also important to train them in how the company wants the service to be delivered and also continuously train and educate all of the employees. Jenny Carlsson explains that she think it is a benefit of having employees that has a lot of experience when hiring new recruits. That this can give a sense of security as a new employee that one have someone to lean on.

Ozuem, Limb and Lancaster (2018) states that investing time and money in training and education can increase the sense of involvement and significance among the employees. In addition to this, it can also make the employees more able and positive to deliver service. Most respondents think it is useful when employees take help of each other. Magnus Khinde, thinks that one can see a difference in how younger and older employees respond to the customer. He believes that the younger ones place more responsibility on the customer and that the older and more experienced are more accurate. Both have their advantages and disadvantages and by training in the store you can learn from each other and develop from it, he says. This is the same view that Mio in Karlskrona and Åsa Jobratt and David Boistrup at Systembolaget has. Having a mix of employees with different backgrounds, young, old, guys and girls is good for being able to support and help each other.

David Boistrup tells us more in-depth about their education within the system company. At Systembolagets intranet (Vinet) the employees can access a competence portal were they can train themselves on various parts. Here he tells us that they can train on things such as age check, beer and wine courses that can be done whenever one want and when it suits, either at home or at work. Furthermore, he continues to tell us that Systembolaget has a courtyard on an island in Stockholm, where the employees goes in average twice a year by each person. Here one do its first education as a new employee at Systembolaget. Among other things, this training goes through the values of the company and the employe gets wrestled with different scenarios that may arise and that can be difficult to handle. They also gets a basic course in flavors Here you also go for further education and there are lots of courses you can choose from within wine, taste and sensory, he continues. David Boistrup adds that this is only a small part of all education and when the employee comes back from the courses they should start practicing this in the store. In the store

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they talk a lot about what you can recommend for different dishes with each other internally and learn from each other in the everyday work.

As mentioned earlier, none of the companies were able to establish that they did not have specific strategies and regulations for internal marketing. The author's own experience is that the store managers are not aware that all activities used to inform, communicate and motivate their employees can be found under the concepts of internal marketing. According to the author's own speculation, this is interesting as the author believes that if one instead asks what the company has and uses for the external marketing strategies, this would probably be an easier question to answer.

4.4 Employee satisfaction According to Mitchell (2002) it is of significance to enable the employees to deliver what is expected both of the company and of the customers and that it is up to the companies to give their employees a reason to exert oneself. This is how Anja expresses herself: “It's like a marathon; out and run! Yes, but are we going somewhere? ” (“Det är som ett maratonlopp; ut och spring! Ja, men vart ska vi någonstans?”). In order to keep the motivation of the employees and get them to deliver what is expected by the company, she believes that clarity is important. It has to exist time for follow-up and make sure everyone is aware of what is to be done and what is expected.

During the interviews it became clear that all store managers are very concerned about their employees. All respondents agree that the employees has a huge part of the company's success and thinks it is important to make sure that they are feeling cared for and important. In addition to everything already mentioned above, all respondents agree that they must be taken care of in both actions and words to make them feel important and have a positive attitude towards the company.

4.4.1 Motivation and feeling of importance

Papasolomou, Kitchen and Christofi (2017) states that it is the employees who are the backbone of the organisation and that they experience the company culture on a daily basis. Therefore, the author believe how these employees are viewed and treated has a direct impact on how they treat the company's external customers. This was also mentioned by the respondents. Both Åsa Jobratt and Anja Smittsarve believe that if they take care of the employees and make them positive it will reflect on the customers as well. Which sympathizes with Gelb and Rangarajan (2014) that states that it is of great importance to take good care of employees so they in their turn will take good care of the customers.

According to, Magnus Khrinde at Mio in Kalmar, the soft values are important to make the employees feel important. To him it is important to say hi to everyone and

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genuinely care about his employees. He adds, "simple questions and be interested, do not just ask it and go, without listen to the answer"(“Enkla frågor och vara intresserad, ställ inte bara den och gå utan lyssna på svaret” ). One thing Åsa Jobratt is very proud of is that at Mio in Karlskrona all employees are offered the opportunity to work 100%. She think that the employees are crucial to them and therefore they should be able to live on the job. “That you have your heart with us", (“att man har sitt hjärta hos oss”) she states.

Anja Smittsarve and Johannes Ledel both mentioned feedback to be of importance to motivate the employees. Johannes Ledel tells us that they are working with a feedback staircase (återkoppling trappa) and that feedback and encouragement between everyone in the group is important. To continue, David Boistrup, think that Systembolaget can contribute with a culture and friendship and development opportunities within what they are doing, but he believes that the employees needs to have a basic motivation themself towards the job for it to work. He also believes in creating an encouraging atmosphere by working with feedback, that one should reconnect if one have done something good for example. He also points out that it is important to praise and not only praise in groups but also at the individual level. Jenny Carlsson, also highlighting the importance of seeing every individual. Her goal is to go through the entire employee force once every week. She thinks it is important to talk to everyone individually, but also to be part of the group.

Both Magnus Khrinde and Åsa Jobratt told that they work with employee calls (medarbetarsamtal) at Mio. In Kalmar they works with employee surveys where employees can answer a number of questions about the workplace anonymously. Magnus Khrinde explains that in this way they can then find out if there is something to work on. In Karlskrona Åsa Jobratt explain that they have conversations one on one with the employee, one taking place in the spring and then a follow-up to that conversation in the fall. Åsa Jobratt also emphasized the importance of seeing and taking care of everyone.

At Systembolaget there is also an aspect where their working environment differs from the other companies. Therefore, they were asked how to prepare their employees so that situations may arise where intoxicated people are involved. David Boistrup respond to this was that it is hard to prepare the employees in advance. He says it is important to tell what is expected of them in these situations, but also to create a climate in the workplace where everyone trusts each other. It is important to create this security so that everyone feels that everyone is there for each other if an uneasy situation arises. Johannes Ledel also agree with that it is important to prepare the employees for different situations and that they have a checklist and one person in charge of the store who go through all the existing risks. He continues that they also discusses historical risks that have arisen to learn from them. Lastly, David

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Boistrup, also add that it is important to be clear that employees safety always goes first.

The respondents were also asked why they think their employees work at each store. The store managers at Mio both believe it is because the good atmosphere. Both David Boistrup and Jenny Carlsson answered that it is because Systembolaget and Åhlens are good employers. Jenny Carlsson explains that it happens a lot all the time at Åhléns and that Åhlens can do the development and but still maintain a good work spirit and maintain a high quality of our work environment makes the employees stay. David Boistrup, says that what he hears his employees say is that they have an interest in service, food and drink. But that they also are passionate about the company's values and that is why they work at Systembolaget.

4.4.2 Employee branding

According to Gelb and Rangarajan (2014) it is most common that employees are preceded as elements of the brand when in contact with customers. But if you instead sell the company in such a way that the employees become advocates for the company even outside the workplace. Many of the respondents mention pride. That they want their employees to be proud of working at the company. Åsa Jobratt expressed as follows: “We want you to be proud to work with us as well as we want our customers to be proud that they have bought from us” (“Vi vill att man ska vara stolt över att jobba hos oss lika väl som vi vill att våra kunder ska vara stolta över att de har handlat av oss”)

Jenny Carlsson store manager at Åhléns, thinks that it is of great importance that the employees belives in Åhléns as a company and what Åhlens wants to achieve. She hopes that the employees are proud of their work and that they feel like a part of it. Jenny Carlsson want it to be more than just a work and that the employees should feel like it is our common department store and it is we who make sure to push it forward. When it comes to pride, Magnus Khrinde points out that it is extra important to feel this pride for his company in a small town like Kalmar where many recognize each other. Therefore, he would like his employees to be advocates for Mio outside of work.

4.5 Service deliverance

All respondents were asked how they view the customer meeting and whether they have strategies and regulations for how the employees should respond to the customer in the customer meeting. Nicholas Ind (2003) explains that it is most effective to give the employees freedom to deliver personal response to the unique customer and that is what the customer is looking for and not something that is delivered by the book. This was also the answer given by all store managers, all

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agreed that the employees themself must be given the opportunity to meet the customer in a personal way. All the store managers require that the customer should always be observed by the frontline employees.

Johannes Ledel talks about this in the terms thoughtfulness, inspiration and hosting and that they has a customer promise to fulfill. By hosting Johannes Ledel means that everyone should feel welcome no matter what the conditions are. He thinks this is very important because they meet all different types of people at Systembolaget and that everyone should feel equally cared for. He also explains that the service deliverance is everything for Systembolaget. If they do not deliver good relations and service to their customers they will not exist for long he states. Anja Smittsarve says that seeing the customer is the most important thing and that she use to express to the employees that "We are on a stage [...] every day" (“Vi står på en scen [...] varje dag”). She continue, to say that this is important to think and remind each other about all the time when working in the store.

At Mio in Kalmar you work with the concept of ´smiling eye contact´, which Magnus Khrinde wants the frontline employee to know. He explains that they have a employee-handbook and that they talk a lot about how to meet the customer, but there is no manual for exactly how to proceed when interacting with the customer. This is also the case at Mio in Karlskrona. Åsa Jobratt tell me there is a point in the business plan that says "always say hi". She goes on to explain that there are many stores where one as a customer are not even greeted. The customer must always be seen. Whatever important task one are occupied with, the customer must always be the most important, according to Åsa Jobratt. Furthermore, Jenny Carlsson states that "every person who rises inside the doors should be seen and then it is up to us to judge how much help that customer wants" (“varenda människa som stiger innanför dörrarna ska bli sedd och sen är det upp till oss att bedömma hur mycket hjälp den kunden vill ha”) .

David Boistrup also believe that it is the frontline employees of the stores responsibility to know or find out how much help the customer wants. He tells us that they talk about proactivity at Systembolaget. That they want to be proactive in our customer meetings, it is not just about saying hello when the customer come in they should also look up and ask if the customer want help. Asking if the customer wants help is something that they have as a priority. Therefore, they talk about how to conduct such a customer meeting to have good service and not miss anything. David Boistrup continue to explain that one large part of Systembolaget is to be brand neutral, which means that the employee only recommend according to the customers demands. This makes it extra important for the employee to really listen in and find out what the customer wants.

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David Boistrup adds, that everything about Systembolaget is to satisfy the customer. Because Systembolaget do not have any profit interest it separates them from other companies and their for the customer can really trust that they get what is best for them. David Boistrup explains that they want to justify the monopoly and that is what they are fighting for and why everything is circling around the customer meeting. Johannes Ledel tell us that there exists a role at Systembolaget called customer inspirers. This customer inspirer is an employee who is responsible for coming up with ideas on how to improve the customer meeting in the store. He says that they have daily activities in the store, which he calls “small quirk” (“små hyss”) to keep more focus on the customer. Anja Smittsarve also answered that the service is everything for them. She explains that if they cannot offer service they will not have a store. To prevent service quality they work with NKI (satisfied customer index), which is real-time feedback from their customers, where they can see what customers think and read comments on improvements.

Voorhees et.al (2017) claims that customers do not make assumptions of companies delivered service based on a one-time experience, they make a merging of all meetings and that it is this merging that constitutes the perceived as the service quality. To motivate the employees to deliver quality in the customer meeting Jenny Carlsson explains that it is important to think that they are here to serve and without the customer they actually have no job. That the customers are the ones who do the working place and make sure we have a job. She continue to explain that it is up to them as employees to make the workplace so that the customer wants to be here. Jenny Carlsson means that one build the customer meeting under a long period of time, "It may be that I meet the customer today, today you buy one thing for SEK 2 next time you come here for SEK 400 and the fourth time you buy for 25,000" (“Det kan va att jag möter kunden idag, idag köper du en sak för 2 kr nästa gång kommer du hit för 400 kr och fjärde gången köper du för 25 000” ).

Åsa Jobratt also think it is significant to have a continuous discussion about how important it is to meet the customer and take care of the customer. In the end, it is the customers who pay our wages so it is very important to take care of them, she states. According to Magnus Khrinde, genuine interest is the most important thing and that the employees care about the customer regardless of the matter. He said; "cranking is easy, but then you do not get back the customer and if you are uninterested then you must not sell at all", (“Kränga är lätt, men då får man inte tillbaka kunden och är man ointresserad då får man inte sälja alls” ). Today the customers are well-read and many already compare prices and offerings when they come to the store so are the store useless on service, the store are sold out immediately. Today, you cannot afford to present a bad first meeting with customers Magnus Khrinde explains.

The interviews were always concluded by asking what the respondent was most proud of as store manager for each store. Everyone's answer to this question was: the

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employees. The author believes that this is a good conclusion to that all store managers consider the employees to be a decisive factor for the store's success. All companies have the same reasoning as presented in the literature chapter. By taking care of the employees and making sure that they have the prerequisites and knowledge they need, that they then will have better conditions for providing quality service to the customers.

4.6 Changes to the conceptual framework With both theory and empirical findings as a basis, the author will make following changes in the conceptual framework. The author believes that it is two approach that stands out when it comes to how store managers motivate and guide their employees to deliver the company's desired service quality.

One is to involve their employees in the decisions to create better conditions together in the store, both for the employees and the customers. It was interesting to find out that it is important for the store managers to involve the employees and at the level they indicated they were involving them. The fact that this is a contributing factor to motivation and delivery also undermines Alvar et al. 2018 that states that the level of attention a company gives the employees the higher are the level of customer-orienting, loyalty and work satisfaction among the employees. According to this involving the employees will be added to feeling important.

The second one is that it was important for the store managers that the employees should feel proud to work for the company. To continue, that this was something one wants to succeed in accomplishing by performing these various activities mentioned in the answers. Also, if you are proud of the companies, you want to deliver well on the job and thereby deliver the cavity that the company wishes to the customers. Gelb and Rangarajan (2014) state that it is important to make the employee understand the values and what the company is representing. By succeeding in this, the author believes that one get proud employees who in turn deliver unison with the company. Therefore, proud employees will be added as a result of employee branding and making the employees advocates for the company brand.

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Figure 4.1 Changes to the conceptual framework (authors own contribution)

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5. Conclusion and recommendations

5.1 Conclusion

Figure 5.1 Conclusion (authors own contribution)

How do store managers on the Swedish retail market perceive internal marketing?

According to this studies empirical findings, it can be concluded that the concept of internal marketing is unclear to store managers on the Swedish retail market. In many cases, they probably act unequivocally within the framework of internal marketing. Because it can be stated that the activities that can be found under the concept of internal marketing is extensively used within the companies and performed by store managers. Therefore, it can be seen that internal marketing is incredibly important and are also used in the Swedish retail market, but not under the expression internal marketing. The purpose of activities within internal marketing are also correspond between theory and empirical findings.

To begin with, it can be noted that the activities used within internal marketing did not differ greatly from store to store. Of particular interest was that it can be stated that the approach and how to work with the service delivery did not differ between the store managers within the same company. Findings shows that it is important for store manager that all within the store are working as a team. Moreover, that it is of important to be clear with what one expects from the employees, but also that everyone should be involved in decisions on a daily basis.

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However, one can see certain inclination and a certain difference in purpose, which is why the store managers use the various activities. Whether it is to create the best climate for its employees and customers or if the purpose is to achieve the best results in numbers.

How are internal marketing used in physical stores to work with service quality deliverance?

According to empirical findings and theory, the use of internal marketing can be derived from service quality. On the whole, they can see that all concepts that are represented within this study's conceptual framework are also represented in the empiricism. That the three main concepts, internal marketing employee satisfaction and high service quality are related according to the findings as well. Moreover, that these concepts lead to motivation and the sense of importance of the employees, which in turn affects how they act towards the customer but also as a representative even outside the working place. It can therefore be stated that all activities that are performed daily at the store level in some way have the purpose of motivating employee to perform for and according to the company's wishes. Thus, these activities also contribute to the quality that is then delivered on the service to the customer.

Future, it can be seen that all store managers believes it is important to take care of their employees. Although the activities are not expressed as internal marketing, it can be stated that activities that motivate and increase the quality of what is delivered to the customer is something they work with. By involving the employees in as many parts of the organisation as possible, one create a sense of importance. Therefore, seeing their employees as a source of valuable information is important. Furthermore, information and communication are also two important concepts for motivating and promoting service delivery. Information and communication create clarity of what is expected to be delivered and thus enable this delivery for the employees. It can be stated that information and communication are equally important for cohesion within the group.

Working together and jointly reaching the goals is something the store managers strive for. In addition to these hard values mentioned above, the soft ones are equally if not more important. To motivate the employees, one must prioritize and find time to see each employee. Assessing achievements and showing genuine interest in the employees are crucial. Furthermore, it is of significance to make and have employees that are proud to work for the company. In summary, to achieve success it is extremely important to take care of their employees so that they in turn wants to take care of the company's customers in a high qualitative way.

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5.2 Contribution 5.2.1 Theoretical implications

The author experience that the study raises many new questions that were not initially thought of. Therefore, hopes that the study can be useful by contributing new framing of questions within internal marketing and service delivery to advance research in the subject. The majority of research related to internal marketing and service delivery have been done in companies in the service sector. Therefore, this study has aimed to highlight the use of internal marketing and to work with service quality in the retail market as well. This study therefore provides an insight into how the internal marketing is perceived and used by store managers in the Swedish retail market.

First, this study has shown that store managers perceive internal marketing as important, but that they do not expresses the activities they carry out as internal marketing. This thus supports previous research which states that internal marketing is difficult to define. But the study also shows that the use of internal marketing activities is large and that there is a need to work with it also within retail. Therefore, this study may give more reason to continue to investigate why it is difficult to define the concepts of internal marketing and why the activities are not expressed as internal marketing.

Second, the study also shows that there is a need to investigate the use of internal marketing and service delivery even in contexts other than service. It turned out that service was something that was also important for the store managers at the participating retail companies. Specifically, this study shows how internal marketing is used by store managers to enable frontline employees to deliver high quality service to the company's customers. Third, the study also provided the insight that internal marketing also used at the store level and not just at the top of the corporate chain. Lastly, it also gave an instinct that the purpose and use of the internal marketing activities may differ within the different companies, which may also be of interest both from a theoretical perspective and for further investigation.

5.2.2 Managerial implications

On a managerial level, this study contributes to an increased understanding of what chain reaction can be created if one take care of its employees and also how important this is for the final result. This study highlights the connection between the internal marketing activities and what is delivered by the employees towards the customer. That one should spend time paying attention to their work in the everyday

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work. Keeping them informed and involving them in decisions to make them feel included and important.

By doing this it will increase the chance of having satisfied employees. If the employees are satisfied with their work situation, hopefully they will in return want to perform their best towards the company's customers and also be advocators for the company outside the work context. This study also hopes to highlight the importance of ensuring that the frontline employees deliver in line with what the company expects. This is to create satisfied customers and satisfied employees which will lead to success for the company

5.3 Suggestions for further research

Due to the limitation of extent and time, it has not been possible to study the internal marketing's connection to service quality from all its possible points of view. Hence, there are great opportunities for further studies within the subject. As mentioned earlier, the author feels that new questions arose during the conduct of the study which could have been of interest and use to further investigation.

To begin with, it would have been interesting to find out if what was presented by the store managers, also was consistent with how their employees viewed it. It would also have been interesting to see if the stores that work in this way with internal marketing actually have customers who feel that they offer high quality of service. Furthermore, a study investigating how important the service actually are for the customers and whether they can be seen as a competitive means for the future retail would have been of interest. Nevertheless, further study related to the definition of internal marketing and why the term is not used. References

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Appendices

Interview schedule

Appendix A - Original in Swedish

1. Hur många års erfarenhet har du av handelsbranschen? 2. Berätta lite kort om din bakgrund, utbildning, tidigare yrken osv? 3. Vilken är din nuvarande yrkesroll och hur många års erfarenhet har du av denna roll? 4. Berätta lite allmän information om företaget? 5. Vad skulle du säga är företagets mål och vision? 6. Vad är dina tankar kring uppgiften att förmedla företagets mål och visioner till butikens personal? 7. Vilken är den största utmaningen med att vara butikschef 8. Vilken är din syn på intern marknadsföring? 9. Hur ser implementeringen av intern marknadsföring ut på företaget? 10. Vad har den interna marknadsföringen för syfte? 11. Hur marknadsför ni arbetsplatsen och företaget till er personal? 12. Hur har arbetsplatsen och företaget sålts in till dig? 13. Tror du att det är viktigt att marknadsföra företaget på samma sätt till personalen som till kunderna och varför/varför inte? 14. Vilka problem kan den interna marknadsföringen lösa? 15. Finns det någon specifik egenskap du anser är viktig att er frontlinjepersonal besitter? 16. Berätta varför ni har en klädkod på arbetsplatsen? 17. Har ni några specifika strategier och bestämmelser hur frontlinje personalen ska bemöta kunden i butiken? 18. Vad skulle du säga är medelåldern på de som jobbar på frontlinjen och hur länge brukar de stanna på den tjänsten?

19. Hur motiverar ni personalen att ha ett kundfokus? 20. Hur gör ni för att er personal ska känna sig betydelsefulla? 21. Varför tror du er personal vill jobba här?

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22. Hur viktigt tror du att det är att personalen själva är förespråkare för företaget och produkterna som erbjuds? 23. Hur ser du på service?

24. Hur stor roll spelar service mötet mellan kund och personalen i bedömningen av företaget i kundens ögon? 25. Tror du servicen är en viktig faktor till varför era kunder kommer hit och handlar? 26. Vilken tror du är den vanligaste anledningen till varför det uppstår oklarheter mellan vad som förväntas från företag och vad som levereras av personalen? 27. Vad är du mest stolt över som butikschef för denna butiken?

Appendix B - English translation

1. How many years of experience do you have in the retail industry? 2. Tell me a about your background, education, past careers, etc.? 3. What is your current professional role and how many years of experience do you have in this role? 4. Tell us some general information about the company? 5. What would you say is the company's goals and vision? 6. What are your thoughts on the task of communicating the company's goals and visions to the store's employees? 7. Which is the biggest challenge of being a store manager? 8. What is your perception of internal marketing? 9. What is the implementation of internal marketing for the company? 10. What is the purpose of internal marketing? 11. How do you market the workplace and the company to your employes? 12. How has the workplace and company been market to you? 13. Do you think it is important to market the company in the same way to the employees as to the customers and why / why not? 14. What problems can internal marketing solve? 15. Is there any specific trait you consider important to your frontline employees? 16. Tell us why you have a dress code in the workplace?

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17. Do you have any specific strategies and regulations on how the frontline employees should respond to the customer in the store? 18. What would you say is the middle age of those working on the frontline and how long do they usually stay at that company? 19. How do you motivate the employees to have a customer focus? 20. How do you make your employees feel important? 21. Why do you think your employees want to work here? 22. How important do you think it is that the employees themselves advocate the company and the products offered? 23. What is your view of service? 24. How important is the service meeting between the customer and the employee in the assessment of the company in the customer's eyes? 25. Do you think service is an important factor in why your customers come here and shop? 26. Which do you think is the most common reason why there is confusion between what is expected from a company and what is delivered by the employees? 27. What are you most proud of as store manager for this store?

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